Choosing the Right Kind of Retail Loyalty Program

Choosing the Right Kind of Retail Loyalty Program  From Kate Baumgart Hogenson

Retail Loyalty 101

The greatest growth area for customer relationship programs today is retail.

A recent survey reported that, among multi-channel retailers without an existing loyalty program, 43 percent planned to introduce some kind of program within the next year. That's an astonishing figure; and powerful proof that interest in customer loyalty continues to strengthen.

But what kind of programs will all these eager retailers bring to market?

All too often we've watched retailers, who obviously feel the hot breath of their competition, push to get to market quickly by making compromises that in turn compromise the success of their program. Some key examples are:

·          Implementing a manual program (e.g., a punchcard) to get around point of sale technology limitations - an approach that usually

• Building a program around a private label credit card in the hopes that it will stimulate acquisition and usage - thus losing the ability to track activity by customers using other forms of payment.
• Excluding online (or offline) purchases because the different channels are managed separately - an organizational issue that prevents retailers from tracking, recognizing or rewarding a customer's contribution.
• Basing rewards totally on short term opportunistic promotions that may drive traffic but fail to provide longer term incentives for profitable customer behavior and brand involvement.

When many people think about customer loyalty, they still think about the granddaddy of all loyalty programs, the airline mileage programs. But Granddad isn't the leader of the pack anymore. In fact, the airline reward model may be entirely inappropriate for most retailers (we're not even convinced it's the right model for airlines anymore). Such programs, as we've said before, may have serious pitfalls for the unwary:

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Take Your POS System to the Next Level!

While many Point-of Sale and Inventory Control solutions provide an excellent platform for success, much more can be achieved.  Advanced Retail Management Systems offers Development Services to enhance your Point-of-Sale and Inventory Control software.  Our expert staff is certified on multiple Point-of-Sale systems and cutting edge technologies, and is here to help you reach your objectives.

POS systems are feature packed, but don't always sell the way you do, do not always allow you to connect to 3^rd party applications or may not be giving you the information you need.  ARMS' Development Services can turn your ideas and your goals into reality. 

Here are some examples of custom functionality that ARMS' Development Services can deliver to your business to increase your efficiency and profit:

• Discount schemes or customer loyalty programs that work the way you do business
• Website integrations to streamline the entire sales and order process
• Integrating your customers and purchases into a CRM application
• Custom reporting
• Electronic catalogs
• Real-time shipping quotes or sales information
• Employee ID cards for login
• Import digital invoices from your vendors
• And many more custom applications based on your needs

For more information on ARMS' Development Services contact Katya Poleschuk at (303) 738-1800 Ext 308 or at devser@armsys.com .

Tech Tips

Departments and categories are just one of the ways you can create detailed, specialized reports about the activity in your store. With a few simple changes to the reports that are built into Microsoft Dynamics RMS, you can:

View information for a specific time period, such as a year-to-date Detailed Sales Report, or a list of customers who visited the store within the last month.

Filter the Purchase Orders report for a specific supplier, or rearrange and group columns to see totals information for all of your suppliers.

                                  
Create a Price List for a specific department, category, or supplier, and then sort by price or bin location.

With the physical inventory count features in Microsoft Dynamics RMS, you can:

• Import count information from your handheld counting devices right into the store database.
• Import multiple count sheets into a master count sheet. Duplicate items will be combined into a single line in the master count sheet.
• View a report of any discrepancies between your counted and database quantities, and then choose whether or not to update the database with the counted quantities.

Kristina Gallagher, Web Developer

Meet Krissy Gallagher, Advanced Retail Management Systems Web Developer.  Krissy joined ARMS in early December of 2006 as a part of the Development Services Department.  In the time that she has been here, she has made a big impact by updating our Web Sites, Company Logo, Marketing Campaigns and is working on many more exciting projects.

This New Hampshire transplant and her newly wedded husband, Bill, came to Denver in April of 2006 after a two-year stay in Pittsburgh. Krissy has a Bachelor's of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design from Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire.  While in Pittsburgh she worked as a Digital Media Manager for a large travel agency. Her talents have already won her the respect of her peers here at ARMS.  Krissy is an equestrian with many years of experience showing her horse "Budlite," who made the move to Colorado as well. She competes in Jumping, Hunt Seat, and Western Riding.

Keep your eyes open for continuing changes in the ARMS web site and other media activities. 

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